Leadership Training Case Study

Support Teams Need to Be Supported so They Can Support Others

A support team, for a company in the health care industry, was having challenges meeting the demands of their internal clients and feeling empowered to do their jobs. The group was in high demand and was results driven. However, there was a lack of clarity in roles, the management structure was hierarchical, and effective structures for communication were missing among management and staff that would help support the team and the demands of their work.

Retraining and Empowering Leaders is Key to Thriving in the Current Times

After conducting an assessment, David Couper Consulting discovered that something was missing within the team. What was missing was a clear understanding of how the team fit into the bigger picture of the organization. There was a disconnect between management and staff in information flow and an ownership on the part of the staff within their roles. It was also a culture where everyone was hard working, but acknowledgment was missing.

As the needs of the business evolved, the support team, their communications and operational structures and the dynamics between management and staff also needed to evolve. DCC created a leadership curriculum to fit the needs of the team and a coaching structure to work with their leadership.

Providing leadership training to the staff enabled them to see the bigger picture beyond their roles. This gave them context and enabled them to become skilled to clarify their own roles and responsibilities in service of the organization. Working on behalf of a shared vision also enabled the team to contribute information vs. merely completing a task. As a results driven group, they started to collaborate to problem solve and invent new solutions and look at more effective and innovative ways to work, versus continuing to do things the way they had always done them.

In 21st Century Business, Leaders Need to Reinvent Themselves from the Inside Out

In addition to working with the team to foster their leadership skills, DCC also provided executive coaching to the team leadership. This coaching helped to empower the leaders to shift and refocus their own leadership style to fit the current needs of the team. The leaders were able to refocus their time and attention and discern what they redirected to staff to manage. Better structures for communication were adopted, which enabled both management and staff to feel empowered and to work in collaborative partnership vs. the previous top down approach.

Times are changing, and to thrive as leaders, a level of self-awareness and a willingness to shift our own style to meet the needs of the team are imperative and keys to success.